Albert Chatelle's manuscript of "Un centenaire tragique. Le naufrage de l' Amphitrite. D' après des documents inédits" : One hundred years old. The shipwreck of the Amphritite from some unpublished documents, ca. 1955

MLMSS 9847

fonds

1955

1001334

0.01 meters of textual material (1 folder) - manuscript

On 26 August 1833 the Amphitrite left Woolwich bound for Sydney, carrying 108 female convicts and twelve of their children, with sixteen crew. On 31 August the ship was ran into stormy weather in the English Channel and ran aground at low tide about two kilometres off Boulogne. Attempts were made by the French to save the passengers and crew. A sailor named Pierre Henin swam out three times to the stricken ship with a lifeline after another sailor, Francois Heuret, had taken a pilot boat to offer assistance. This was refused by Captain Hunter as he believed the convicts should not be landed as there would be no means of keeping them together and many would escape. It appears that he also believed that the ship was not in immediate danger. The convicts broke out of the hold but their demands to be put ashore were refused. For more than an hour they remained on deck with their children ‘uttering the most piteous cries’ until the tide came in and the ship broke in two. Only three sailors survived.

Reference: Library Correspondence File

9 pages of an unpublished manuscript which discusses in French the shipwreck of the Amphritite. This piece is a secondary source which is based upon unpublished sources. Pages 1-8 are numbered in red pencil in the top right corner. Additional annotations have been made in the left margin, which is approximately 7 cm wide. Throughout the manuscript pages have been glued on top of one another, sometimes allowing parts of the previous draft to be visible, and at other times completely covering the work.

Copyright status:: In copyright - this collection has multiple copyright owners
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Translation of title: One hundred years old. The shipwreck of the Amphritite from some unpublished documents.